The family of a schoolboy stabbed to death in Gateshead have been left 'devastated beyond belief', a police chief said today, as a teenager was arrested on suspicion of his murder.Victim and suspect are both 14. So what makes one a 'schoolboy' and the other a 'teenager'..?
Chief Superintendent Helena Barron said today: 'A teenage boy has sadly died and his family have been left devastated beyond belief. 'The police don't seem to have such qualms, do they?
A transgender prison officer who was caught with £3,500-worth of heroin in the car park of a Midlands jail has escaped a jail sentence.
Why was there a transgender prison officer in the first place?
Prison bosses swooped in on Ollie Griffiths, 29, after a tip-off alleging he was smuggling in contraband for inmates at HMP Featherstone, Staffordshire. A court heard how multiple wraps of heroin were found in the footwell of his car, stuffed into a tube of Pringles crisps, on July 31.
Bang to rights! So how did she - for it is a she - escape with this?
He was sentenced to a 12-month community order with 100 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £280 in costs.
Well, would you believe, CPS incompetence? Or laziness? Or desperately helping the Prison Service cover up their mistake in hiring this person?
Griffiths - formerly known as Holly Griffiths - was spared jail after prosecutors charged him with possession of drugs, and not the more serious charge of intent to supply.
Even the judge said 'WTAF, dude?':
Asked to explain the 'astonishing' decision by district judge Marcus Waite, Ms Fraser said that reviewing lawyers had told her to proceed on the lesser charge.
Gosh! I wish I could avoid awkward questions by saying 'big boys did it and ran away' when confronted...
Richard Davenport, defending, said: 'He is no longer employed in the prison service. He has left his parents' address.
'There have been various problems with the family because of his transitioning. He is living in shared accommodation and has got work as a chef.'
Great! Food preparation. That's safer, right?
Detective Inspector Gavin Mulcahy said: 'We understand the shock that this incident will cause in the local community and beyond.'
It looks like quite a nice area, but then so have recent dog-related deaths occurred in what looked like nice areas.
It only remains to be seen whether it was a pitbull, a 'Staffie-cross' (for which read 'pitbull 2.0'), an American Bully ("I Can't Believe It's Not A Pitbull!"™) or something more exotic...
Update:
Nope, thanks to comments at the 'Liverpool Echo', it's looking like yet another breeder of these things:
Five London taxi drivers charged with people smuggling offences have appeared in court. The charges follow a National Crime Agency (NCA) probe, code-named Operation Symbolry, into a London-based gang involved in smuggling migrants in and out of the UK using lorries.
*gasps* No! I don't believe it! Not the guys who do this sort of thing?!
Alauddin Ahmad, 49, of Shadwell, east London, is charged with five counts of conspiring to facilitate illegal immigration.
Ahknu Hussain, 48, of Spitalfields, east London, is charged with four counts of conspiring to facilitate illegal immigration.
Amran Hussain, 40, of Bromley-by-Bow, Fozol Miah, 41, of Ilford, and 52-year-old Kaysor Miah, of Poplar, all east London, are each charged with one count of conspiring to facilitate illegal immigration.
Ah.
They were all bailed to appear before Snaresbrook Crown Court later this month.
Wonder if they'll turn up?
An 11-year-old girl has been left with life-changing injuries after she was attacked by a dog before being rescued by passers-by. Dramatic images captured from a video which was shot at the scene in East London yesterday, shows a taxi driver jumping out of his car with a bat to rescue the girl.
The early morning attack happened on Johnson Road, Tower Hamlets, yesterday, at around 8.30am.And that fact is: where's the beast now?
A Met Police spokesman told The Sun: 'Police were called at 08:31hrs to Ben Johnson Road, E1 after an 11-year-old girl was attacked by a dog.
'A member of the public intervened to free the victim.
'The owner of the dog left the scene prior to police arrival.
'The girl was taken to hospital for treatment to her hand - her condition is not life-threatening but may be life changing.
'No arrests at this time. Enquiries are ongoing.'It's not encouraging that the police don't tell us it's safely in kennels or a vet's freezer, is it?
Indeed, while the court heard Dixon started to transition 18 years ago (and one source told me they believed might have undergone surgery), those living near him still assumed their neighbour be a man.
He is a man. He'll always be a man. He can get all the surgery he wants, paper his cell with worthless pieces of paper declaring him a legal woman. But it won't change one iota of what he is.
So why is the 'Daily Mail' being so cagey?
‘There was nothing to make us think he [as she referred to him] had become a woman,’ said Angela Spencer, 55, who lived two doors away from Dixon in Havant, Hampshire, where she moved into a council semi six years ago.
‘He never wore a dress, he always wore joggers or jeans, and he never carried a handbag or anything like that. Yes, he had his hair in a ponytail, but lots of men do that, don’t they? And he spoke in a man’s deep voice.’
Isn't it about time the media spoke in a truthful voice, instead of carrying on referring to Dixon as 'she' even in an article castigating the police for doing so...?
Got one of these yesterday:
